17 September 2008, we also managed to visit m16 studio's in kingston to see to 2 other exhibitions.

Hilary Wardhaugh Father and Sons exhibtions and Dan O Day's exhibtion.

I have had the pleasure in being apart of this process as Hilary contacted me to use me and my sons portrait as part of the Father sons and Fathers, a photograpgic history essay by Hilary.

When she asked me, I had no hesitation as it's not every day you get an opportunity as this.

This was the 1st time I got to see the image on show and felt the connections straight away once I saw it.

It works well in a series of other father and son images with a short story from each person.

Please see photo for more info, it may jog you memory.


Dan O days exhibition was also great, with some of his larger format images. The lighting technics used for these images was outstanding. I particularly like all the images he took on his mobile phone of sleeping people in all sort of uncompromising positions. It's amazing what you can create from something so basic ha ha.

Assignment, Platinum Prints.

The Process for Platinum Prints was invented by Williams Willis(1841-1923) in 1872 who continually refined it until 1878. It is made up of a dried peice of paper sensitized with a solution of potassium chloro-platinate and ferric oxolate an iron salt. Which is contact printed under a negative in dalylight until a faint image was produced by the reaction of the light source with the iron salt. This process also depends on the light source of iron salts which is crucial to making it work. The paper was developed by immersion in a solution of potassium oxolate that dissolved out the iron salts and reduced the chloroplatinate salt to platinum in those areas where the exposed irons salts had been. The paper is washed in a series of baths to remove excess iron salts and yellow stains and final the print is washed in water.
With the price of Platinum Prints rising steeply they where made right up to the 1920's. They where replaced by palladium prints a process which is similar but employed a compund of the metal rather that platinum. These processes were valued for there great tonal range, usualy silvery greys.
Recently Platinum prints have enjoyed a revival.

"Looking at Photography" A guide to technical terms by Gordon Baldwin

On the 17/9/08 we made a visit to tha Australian War Memorial to see an eye opening exhibition. Icon and Archive photography and the world wars. A collection of images from the 1st and 2nd world wars. This is a great chapter in Australian History and Australian photography with great portraitures and documentary images. You cant' but help but get taken a back by these images and what these men and women had to go through on an every day basis just to get by.
The commraderi and mateship that you see in some these images is so the" Australian way of life". I look foward to looking into this more in some of our up and coming lessons.
Whilst dere I took the time to look around the AWM to see other area's of interest and was overawed by the enormity of the place. I would love to go behind the scenes and see what takes place to get the AWM that way it is today, This place is an ICON.

On the 10-08 We visited Old Parliment House for an exhibition which deals with the harshness of the land during the drought. Beyond Reasoable drought . Images that evoke Sadness, helpleness, devestation and hope.

The river, lake beds and dams which show the severity of the drought. Among the images was a DVD which displayed the other 149 images that didn't get exhibited. Along with the the DVD was series of stories from the poeple themselves telling stories about life on farms, growing up in small country towns etc.

ALthough I havent lived the life of these guys, I can relate to the harshness they do face and they deserve every accolade that is handed to them. They are unsung hero's of this nation.



Please refer to my images from the Condobolin area which is affected by drought.
An image with me at the Condobolin lake and another imaged of the Coogee river on the Lachlan. A place where I used to swim very often when I was a kid. But it's looking very DRY.

2/9/08 I traveled to Brewarrina NSW to document and photograph NSW Records , who where holding an exhibition with photographs at the Cultural Centre. This exhibition is on show for the next month and it coincided with the re-opening of the cultural center.
NSW records are traveling through out NSW to exhibit and return the material to the poeple. Bre was there next stop and these Iamges dated back as early as the 1900's and one elder went as far as saying.
"These images engage you, and I felt a presence when looking at photo's of my family members.
I feel there is a family renunion going on when I engage the photo's".
Wow engage, he made me think more about photographs and my photography work and that there is a whole new level when dealing with photographs

Mervyn Bishop who is originaly from Bre, was aslo traveling with NSW records to document this event. This was a great privilage to meet Mervyn, and he took an interest in what I was doing as I have studied and researched his work before.
As you can imagine these images are a part of Australian History and tell great stories of it's past.
More poeple need to be educated with these images and hopefully educations institutes such as CIT's photographic departments can pass these stories on.

"Gurramin Mamarrapa" meaning "Shadow Catcher" After many visit's to Bre, an elder told me a meaning of being a photographer in language. 

27/8/08, Visited the CMAG to view images taken from around the Canberra region.
Images on show are by atrist like Olive Cotton, David Patterson, Arthur Wicks and Matt Kelso. Ted Richards Black and white series of images taken around Canberra in the 1970's early 80's caught my eye. These images captured the essence of what Canberra was like back then. Before it bacame the city we know today.